With the new crop of MMO's a common complaint is that they have no staying power, nothing to keep you entertained passed max level. So what was it about the older generation of MMO's that kept everyone playing for years?

I have to admit that I like the grind of killing mobs over and over again which I found a love of in Lineage 2 and just levelling for the sake of levelling or to get the next bit of gear, ingame money, mats etc.. so I like a really long levelling curve that seems impossible to reach, with distinct gear changes (as in L2 grades of gear) so you don't have new better gear every five minutes, this facillitates having many goals to achieve in order to grind efficiently, enchanting, socketing and so forth which makes progression feel like its meaningful. Its taken me a while to recognise this in myself as I've bounced around many games trying out all the different styles. So in all its a long progression system one that never seems to end is the central theme here but thats hard to do without tonnes of grind included which new MMO's seem to be frightened of.

Playing other games.  What?  Yes, what keeps me playing a MMORPG for an extended period of time is to play other games.  I used to run around four games a year - not concurrently - no, rather one at a time.  Though, at times, I might have two subs running as I switched games during the month.

Might be a case of playing Game X for 2-3 months, then Game Y for a month, then Game X again for a couple of months, then Game Y for 2-3 months, then maybe Game Y or Game X... heck, might even play one for 4-6 months before switching.  But it's the switching that keeps me playing...

So as the years passed, I was still playing a group of games over the long term.  It wasn't a case of hopping from Game A to Game B to Game C to Game D to Game E to Game F to Game G.... it was playing a group of games over the long term.

I would say the top 3 for me is:

1. Are my friends still playing

2. Am I in a good active guild

3. Do I still have things to do that are fun and / or will improve my character?

Without those, I have found my staying power in an MMO is not very good.

Originally posted by tank017
Freedom, freedom to create my own journey, my own quests.no premade quest/theme park style attaching a leash around my neck, pulling me in one single direction.challenge is another factor, I want it to be challenging to get to end level, I don't want to gain a level for sneezing.Basically, the opposite of todays mmos lol..

THIS.

   I would add/elaborate with a ruleset that allows this freedom and the social aspect of guild cities/seige warfare. The games that I have played the longest get me invested with this, because it is not some script that hits an endpoint (or in the case of raiding, a script that plays like a broken record at endgame), but a neverending challenge of politics, warfare, and wealth accrual that you can use to build the landscape around you.

Content!

So far GW2 has plenty of that.

Fun.

If i'm playing, and have been on for an hour+, and feel like it's been 15 minutes, that's all I need. When I start playing and am looking at the clock TRYING to pass time, that's when I go to a different game.

What helps to have fun? A good guild. That's about it. It can be half assed PvP but if you're having a blast with your friends, you're still having a blast.

Emotional and social investment. 

Replacement for real life.

Good people around me to chat to & play with. Provided that I tend to find anything's pretty much enjoyable, grinding/crafting/exploring.

I actually thought most responses would be similar, actually quite surprised.

Being a world, and not just a game. Having depth. Quality group play, at any stage, not just when max level then suddenly playing with a lot of people that never grouped a day and don't know their class and how it interacts with others. Larger groups too, 6+.

A lot of options, choices, variety. Little things that enhance the experience, like housing, faction with cities to be able to enter when previously unable, or becoming KoS. EPIC quests that mean something, not a bunch of menial tasks as a way to avoid playing with others and reaching max level.

Extra customization of characters, a secondary progression.

Pvp isn't necessary, pve games kept me before, but if pvp, needs to be Quality pvp. Doesn't need to be open world, can be zoned, but not instanced and not capped, (think daoc). no esport crap, arena style.

Very few instances if any. Don't seperate people from each other, throw them together, to make it a living breathing world.

Also would just like to see bigger server capacities. Use to see 5k people servers, now it is down to 1-2k.

Suffice it to say, no current MMO has been keeping me longterm. Still play some of the older ones, but with changes, and antiquated movement, just not the same.

Last mmo to keep me for more than 1-2 months have been ff11 and 14, both offer a diffrent experence than most, and they both ALWAYS have something you can do even at cap, unlike mmo's like wow, where all there really is, is raiding for gear that you have no more real use for anymore since the only endgame avail to you is just raiding. I hit lv 80 in wow, did a raid or 2, then quit because I didn't see any purpose to it. How WoW suckers so many people into following the perpetual carrot on a stick amazes me.

Leveling speed is also an issue, most mmo's these days you can hit cap in 2-3 days, my friend did pretty much every mission in TSW and got all the skills/gear he needed for the skill's he choose in about 3 days. Then he logged out and hasn't gone back because there just is nothing to do thats any fun. Fun.. this is something almost every mmo lacks these days, mostly because it all feels like the same shit difrrent day. Though mmo's like gw2 thankfully have been changing this, there is alot to do in gw2, I don't own the game due to lack of funds (money was tight) but its the first mmo in a very long time other than ff11/14 that I actually had fun in.

Originally posted by Xexv

Good people around me to chat to & play with. Provided that I tend to find anything's pretty much enjoyable, grinding/crafting/exploring.

I actually thought most responses would be similar, actually quite surprised.

This was partly my aim to show how hard it is to design an all singing and dancing MMO as we all have different desires. I'm not too interesting a MMO that leans towards simulation rather than game its partly why I like Asian MMO's. I also like collection systems like in EQ2 or pets or as in Sword2 UPC playable characters that you recruit as you level through the world, costumes are nice thing to go after as well.

My reason to enjoy an mmo and keep playing is

1. 

community.

Community includes friends, guilds, partys, groups, and over  all player base.  If there is a good community following to give the game that real massive feel I will stick around, if not I am out.